<If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun -Katharine Hepburn>

|5|

I WAS wrong.

On a roll, Kian dazzled me with his good guy thingy. It began with him texting me that night just as he said he would in the library.

After I had finished brushing my teeth and dressing up in one of Dad's old shirts that he wasn't wearing anymore, I laid down on the bed with Theo, my ever constant partner.

I plugged in my earpiece and was about to listen to Take Me Away by Nasty C.

Music, especially slow songs lured me to sleep quickly so my bedtime routine was listening to slow music and staring at my starry ceiling, all the while waiting for sleep to take me away. No pun intended.

Sleep was my haven. In that dreamy world of nothingness, I could envision a normal life without trouble. No bullies, no taunts, no name calling, everything I passed through at school didn't exist in my fantasy world. It was all merrily merry for me there.

On the verge of entering my dream world, my phone pinged.

What now?

Just when I was about to catch a glimpse of a handsome guy that I had conjured in my mind. Yeah, if I didn't get a chance of ogling at a boy in real life then I could in my dreams. You have the right to sue me.

Reaching for my phone, I tapped the screen.

It was a message from that same unknown number and if I guessed right it wasn't unknown anymore, but I had to be sure. Maybe he was pranking me again, this wasn't the first time.

Me: Hey, is this Kian?

Unknown Number: Yup. I told you that I'll text you, remember?

You guessed right, it was Kian. He sure kept his word. What was I supposed to reply now? I thought he had been joking back then at the library but it turned out it wasn't so.

Me: Uhmm, yeah. How did you get my number?

Unknown number: No how are you or how're you doing? :-(

I rolled my eyes.

Me: Just talk. I need to know.

Wait, when did I get this bold?

Olay, you're talking to mean Kian remember? I reprimanded myself.

Unknown number: Since you're so curious, I snagged it off my mother's files. I'm privileged, you know. (~<~)

Privileged my ass. Since Kian's mother was the principal he could do anything he wanted so this didn't come as any surprise.

Me: Okay.

Unknown number: So I'll ask since you don't want to. How are you? I hope you're fine. I'm pretty bored rn. What about you? ; )

I stared at my phone unblinking. Why all these pleasantries? And he's asking about how I was feeling? I was the one who ought to ask him that, because from my perception, he wasn't feeling fine. The Kian I knew never texted me.

Ever.

Unknown number: Helloo. . . you there? :(

He said he was feeling bored so this might be a way to relieve himself of boredom and the best way he thought of doing that was disturbing my sleep. I wasn't in the mood of dealing with his pranks so I replied.

Me: Feeling sleepy.

I put off my phone notifications, that way he wouldn't carry on with his messages.

Turning on another song, I closed my eyes, refused to give any thought to Kian and drifted to my fantasy land.

Waking up in the morning, I decided that I must have been dreaming. There was no way Kian texted me last night.

Yes he did, my mind screamed.

To be on the safe side, I decided to check my messages. All our texts were still there and one was unread.

Unknown number: Oh yeah, sorry. Goodnight, sweet cheeks. Sleep tight ;-)

I rubbed my eyes, considering that I just got up right now. They had to be deceiving me. Kian?! Wish me a good night's sleep? Ha! If this was true then fishes could breathe out of water.

I dumped my phone on the bed.

Maybe a virus had attached itself---when I wasn't aware--- to my phone, so there was a glitch. Yeah, a glitch where someone I didn't know was pretending to be Kian. It had to be.

I rushed to prepare for school, eager to meet the real Kian I was used to. First time I was actually eager to see him. What has the world turned to?

***

Secondly at school, I was proved wrong once more, during English class which was my most dreaded lesson because Kian and his pals were present. Of course, they didn't hesitate to embarass me during lessons and the teachers didn't care. No surprise there.

As the unwanted human being I was, I stayed in front between two empty chairs, while everyone else stayed wherever they wanted. Preferably the back seat. I couldn't sit elsewhere, Kian had made sure of that.

English was the first class of the day and I made it early. Kian and his gang weren't around yet. It was their stock in trade to come late for classes.

I was answering a question Mr. Bentley asked when they arrived.

A pause. The class paused as if someone had pressed a remote for them to.

Strutting like peacocks, the boys bounced and the girls sashayed, as if they owned the place. The moment they sat down, the spell that held the class silent was lifted and the class was back to normal with the occasional chitchat.

Mr. Bentley pretended that no one had walked in, he was probably used to it; their late coming. There was no need for him to waste saliva on asking them why they had come in late. Besides, he, like the other teachers, didn't care.

"You're correct Miss Kincade." He scratched his bald head and motioned for me to sit.

I sat down and noticed someone sitting down on the once empty chair beside me. And guess who? Kian. Kian of all fracking people?! Yes Kian!

He grinned. "Hey."

My reply was to play deaf.

Waving a hand, he said hey once more. On noticing I wasn't acknowledging his gestures, he snatched my pen away from my right hand.

"Hey! Please, give me that back." I frowned at him, forgoing my deaf act.

He chuckled. "You finally got to say hey. So how are you? You had a great night?"

"What are you doing? Not only are you sitting down here with me, asking me how I feel, you messaged me yesterday. I don't understand. Is this another prank? And please give me back my pen." I was baffled. What was going on here?

Kian sighed and raked a hand through his messy styled hair, messing it the more. "No. I'm not pranking you. I'm doing all these to make up for everything I've done to you. Believe me, I'm not joking if you think that I am."

I looked at his eyes. They were his best features, if I was to say so myself. Those piercing ocean blue eyes were gazing at me right now, an intense emotion expressed in them. They say someone's eyes are like the windows to their soul and honestly I don't know whether it was true or not but there was something about his eyes.

"Psst. Kian! What are you doing sitting with her?" Josh was whispering with a deep scowl on his face but Kian seemed oblivious to whatever Josh said. His other friends were not happy too.

"I think your friends are calling you." I pointed a finger towards their direction.

"Forget them. So will you give me a chance to prove that I want you to be treated better?" he asked, a pleading look on his face. Forget them? I sure wanted to. He was also among them.

I ignored his request and held out my hand. "My pen please."

"Not if you don't agree to my plea."

Whatever. I decided to say yes and take my pen back.

"Yes! Now my pen."

"You just made my day." Yeah right, I added sarcastically.

He punched the air in delight, a big grin on his face, appearing like he'd just won a million dollars at the lottery. He was really making a scene because my classmates were whispering, wondering what was going on and my teacher wasn't interested. He continued droning on about verbs.

God! Could he give me back my pen already? I was about to ask for it again when he handed it over.

Thankful I had my pen back, I returned to what we were learning and ignored the strange person near me. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't pay attention in class because Kian's woodsy cologne was irritating, yes irritating, my sensitive nose and I was still wondering about his unusual behaviour.

***

For the third time I was wrong again.

During lunch, I got my food and sat down at my table. Halfway through, I saw Kian sitting down on the other available chair. And that available chair was one beside me.

What was with him and sitting down next to me? First it was at the library, next English class and now here?

The noisy cafeteria became as silent as a graveyard. Some people's jaws hung open, spilling pieces of half chewed food on the table. Ughh, get a grip people. Yes, I was surprised but my mouth wasn't open. I had table manners, despite whatever they called me.

"What are you doing here?" I eyed him.

"Eating. What else?" He shrugged his shoulders, stuffing his mouth full with pasta, like this was a normal thing he did everyday. And it wasn't.

"People are staring and your people are watching too. They look surprised just like I am now." I stressed your to make him remember that he had friends and I wasn't among them. I mean I was the one he bullied right? The black bitch with no name.

"What are they surprised about? That I'm eating with you? So what? No one gives a shit. They can stare all the want, I don't care." Okay, forget table manners, my jaw literally dropped on hearing what he said.

He laughed and clutched his stomach, wheezing. Kian bad boy extraordinaire was wheezing and clutching his stomach because according to him I was funny? What happened to the real Kian I knew? I've read alien books where they swapped bodies with humans and maybe this was alien Kian.

"I might choke because of you. You should have seen your face, Jamila." His laughter trailed off and he continued, "I'm here because I told you I'm making up for everything I've done to you. So why not start with this?"

I fixed my eyes down and picked at my food. I wasn't hungry anymore. Kian and his antics were getting to me. But what if he was changing? Sometimes, people wake up one day and decide to make themselves turn a new leaf. It was probably what occurred in Kian's case.

Lord help me to know whether he was joking or not, Amen.

"I guess so." Yeah, lame answer but I still couldn't believe it.

He cleaned his mouth with a napkin. "Since that's settled, I have something to ask of you."

That got me curious. Something to ask of me, hmm. "Yes?"

"Tomorrow's Friday and also game night. We're playing against WallHigh and I'll like you to watch us play. So what do you say?" He fixed a smile at me, a hopeful look on his face.

I don't know what got into me because my answer was yes.

A/N: Yoo, what's up? Vote and comment your thoughts on the chapter, please. Thank you!

Nita.